| Pithole City |
| Back in the early 1860's, there were numerous wells in Venango County, Pennsylvania. They produced so much oil that thousands of men seeking to become rich rushed to the area resulting in many small oil towns popping up in no time at all. In May of 1865, after oil was discovered on the Holmden Farm, Pithole was founded. By that September almost 15,000 people arrived to live there. Now boasting 57 hotels, the third busiest Post Office in the state, and its own daily newspaper, Pithole became an oil boom-town. Although, within only a year of it's founding, almost all of the oil was gone. Add to that major well fires, the quick, and poorly constructed wooden city buildings, and new wells located nearby now, caused the population to dwindle to under 2,000 people by December 1866. Pithole was almost completely abandoned, and almost as quickly as it began. Almost nothing remains of this oil boomtown now. There are the grassy remnants of the once busy city streets as well as some cellar holes of the former buildings. The nearby Drake Well Museum maintains the grounds and conducts tours and special events via the on site Pithole Visitor Center. Wooden sign posts serve as road makers have been placed at the cross- roads of the former streets, and markers for some of the more formidable structures that once stood there, to help guide visitors on their way.. |
| Pithole during it's prime Image from www.drakewell.org/pithole.htm |
| Another photo of the town; circa 1865 Photo source: unknown |
| A little history... |
| A map of the former city...the roads are still layed out the same even today |
| Jim, Mick, & Bryan |
| One of the many street sign markers found at the crossroads through Pithole |
| One of the former roads in the city |
| Road to nowhere |
| Thanks to our case manager, Bryan, we have pretty much had an open invitation to investigate Pithole City since 2006. Bryan and Paula had made several stops here while in the vicinity, however, we did not conduct our first actual investigation here until 2008. With thanks to the Drake Well Museum and the Pithole Visitor Center we were able to camp out on the grounds of Pithole and spend the night there to look into the claims of paranormal activity that have been reported. Aside from the usual orb (a.k.a. dust) photos that people have got there, we did find several accounts of people experiencing things well beyond the normal. One of these accounts came from a couple that came up to Pithole to walk around during the day on a self guided tour. Afterwards they came back to the Visitor Center and spoke with the gentleman working there and thanked him for the wonderful "guide" in period clothes that walked around with them. The Visitor Center employee informed the couple that there was no one there in period clothing. We arrived there early in the evening to get our camp site set up. Bryan, Tom, Mick, Jim, and a guest investigator Bryan (yes, two Bryans...both spelled with a "y"). Once set up we took some time to get familiar with the area while still light out, since there would be much ground to cover. Literally. Once dusk settled in, we began to get ready for our investigation. Being that we were in an outside location...you can probably guess what happened next. That's right, as soon as we got our equipment ready it began to rain. Well, with nothing else to do at this time we headed to our tents and hoped to just wait it out. Luckily enough, the rain did stop around 11:00 PM. So, once again we readied our equipment and get ready to begin our investigation. No sooner did Tom clip his flashlight onto his belt, it began to rain...again. Back to the tens we went. Frustrated, we were about to call it a night, however, the rain finally stopped for good by midnight. Even with the inclement weather, we were able to get in some investigating. Although, not nearly the amount that we would have under more cooperative conditions. Upon reviewing our video, audio, and photographs collected, they show no indication of any anomalous activity. Coupled with no personal experiences, or any equipment indications of anything deemed paranormal, the investigation has provided no evidence. In the long run, that doesn't mean anything of course. We all know that paranormal activity does not preform on command, and we were not able to investigate under the most ideal conditions. We spoke with the museum director and expressed our interest in returning for a more in depth investigation...with no possible chance of rain. We hope to return before winter, so check back. |
| Our camp |